


In a Single Look

by CryptidOwl007



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi is struggling to handle both Bokuto and Hinata, M/M, someone help this boy, the Sunshine Duo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 11:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11966172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CryptidOwl007/pseuds/CryptidOwl007
Summary: "I'M REQUESTING A FANFIC ABOUT AKAASHI BEING JEALOUS THAT BOKUTO IS PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO HINATA INSTEAD OF HIM"Ask, and ye shall recieve





	In a Single Look

_ Bokuto’s Weakness no. 27: Drops everything when Akaashi Keiji enters a room to go and talk to him. _

“AKAASHI!” The yell from behind was completely expected, and with a sigh Akaashi turned around to face the upperclassman charging at him. This is why he avoided coming down the third year corridor during breaks. Somehow, Bokuto always managed to know when he was there.

"Hello, Bokuto-san," he said calmly. Akaashi tried his best to remain calm and level-headed around Bokuto, if only to offset the others extreme excitement. In literal leaps, Bokuto landed next him, throwing an arm around his shoulder. Bokuto was not one to hold back his strength, and so leaned his entire weight into Akaashi.  

"I haven't seen you since practice this morning!! How've you been?" he asked, as enthused as ever.

_ Which was only three hours ago _ , Akaashi thought to himself. With Bokuto being as close as he was, the smell of sweat from practice was very noticeable. "I'm just fine Bokuto-san, how are you?" he asked instead, trying to ignore the smell.

It was hard to ignore.

Tilting his head down slightly, Akaashi tried to sniff himself. Hopefully he didn't have the same problem...

Completely unaware of the fact he smelled, Bokuto leaned his head in closer and launched into a rant about the day he'd had so far. Glancing back up at him, Akaashi noted Bokuto's hair seemed to visibly deflate as he described a surprise pop quiz in one of his classes that morning. Hiding a smile, and trying to console him, Akaashi said,      

"That was unfortunate. But cheer up, tomorrow the training camp starts. We'll get to meet the new team Kuroo-san won't shut up about."

Akaashi watched Bokuto's hair fluff back up in excitement. He really was just like an owl.

But Kuroo really wouldn't shut up about that new team- ever since they had their practice match, he’d non-stop filled their group chat with stories from it. Both him and Bokuto had become so enthralled with the idea of "long fated rivals" that they began declaring rivalries with anyone who so much as made eye contact.

Luckily the declaring of rivalries had been met with swift action by Fukurōdani's coach, seeing as Bokuto instantly went into "emo-mode" anytime one of his "rivals" outperformed him. As far as he knew though, it was still an ongoing thing at Nekoma.

Akaashi quickly sent a silent prayer Kenma's way.     

Down the hall, an upperclassman stuck his head outside Bokuto's classroom, looking around. Finally spotting Bokuto, he called out, "Oi, Bokuto! Don't just run off in the middle of a conversation!" Bokuto glanced towards his friend and waved.

"Just give me a minute," he yelled back, pointing to Akaashi. "I was saying hi to Akaashi."

Looking thoroughly annoyed, Bokuto’s friend complained, "You always leave us for Akaashi, it's not fair." Bokuto just cocked his head to the side and grinned widely.

"But Akaashi is waaayyy more fun to talk to that you guys!" Akaashi felt a slight blush rise into his cheeks. He didn’t entirely mind that Bokuto thought that highly of their friendship; but for Bokuto to say he was more fun to hang out with than his upperclassmen friends was a bit…  _ much. _

Extricating himself from Bokuto's grasp, not an easy task with someone as clingy as Bokuto, he bowed to the other upperclassmen. In return the upperclassman gave him a sympathetic nod; he, too, knew the hassle of being Bokuto's friend. Citing the errand his teacher had sent him on, he excused himself.

Waving enthusiastically, Bokuto yelled after him, "Talk to you at practice Akaashi!"

Akaashi rolled his eyes. Knowing Bokuto, he wouldn't last all the way to practice before trying to find him and strike up a conversation.   

***

Shockingly, the remainder of Akaashi's day was blissfully quiet and owl free. However, as soon as he approached the clubhouse, Bokuto’s loud voice began filling the air.

_ It really is a voice befitting a captain _ , Akaashi thought to himself.

Opening the door, whatever sentence Bokuto was going to say got cut short as he whirled around to face Akaashi. Grabbing his hand, Bokuto hauled him into the room from the doorway.

"Akaashi! I thought you'd never get here," he whinned. Practically flinging himself onto Akaashi, the other had to make a concerted effort to keep Bokuto supported and upright. If he didn't, he had a feeling Bokuto would just sink to the floor and lie there complaining about how Akaashi didn't support him enough.

"You should show up earlier so we can get more spiking practice in," Bokuto suggested, suddenly leaping away to jump into a pretend spike. Their clubhouse wasn't exactly small, but nor was it big enough for Bokuto to be leaping around in.

The sudden loss of Bokuto's weight left Akaashi slightly unbalanced and a little at a loss, so he couldn’t lecture him right away. It always seemed normal to have Bokuto hanging off him at any given point in time; suddenly losing that left him unbalanced. Gathering himself back up, he scolded his somewhat rash upperclassman.

"Bokuto-san, don't jump around in here, and save your energy for actual practice please." Bokuto just grinned back at him like usual. Both Bokuto and Akaashi knew it was a pointless warning, since Bokuto never seemed to run out of energy. Even in his emo-mode, he still managed to move with enough vigor to warrant coach keeping him on the court.

"Hurry up and get changed, practice is gonna start soon," Bokuto replied. As everyone else filled out the room and headed towards the gym, Bokuto waited as Akaashi got changed. Akaashi was thankful that Bokuto’s chattering and emphatic gestures kept him from staring as he changed. Jogging towards the gym together, Bokuto continued to excitedly fill him in on what the rest of his day had been like. Quietly listening along, Akaashi couldn't help but get sucked into Bokuto's whirlwind of emotions.

Bokuto always made for an interesting conversation, even though Akaashi rarely contributed to it. Most people who didn't know Akaashi thought he was an emotionless rock, but that wasn't exactly true; he was just bad at expressing feelings. And dealing with them in general.

But Bokuto.

Bokuto was always expressing some form of emotion with a vibrancy that was almost blinding. And despite being the greatest simpleton Akaashi knew, Bokuto was one of the few people who seemed to always know what he was feeling, even if he couldn't find a way to express it himself.      

"Akaaashiiiii are you even listening to me?" Bokuto complained. Glancing sideways at his pouting friend, Akaashi repeated back what Bokuto had been saying.

"Of course I was Bokuto-san. It's very unfortunate that they ran out of curry buns, but I'm glad your science lab went well. And yes, while it would have been cool to see what color the gas burned, try not to set anything on fire during class." Bokuto beamed at his response, pleased that he had, in fact, been listening.    

Practice seemed rather boring. Usually Friday had them facing off against one of the other schools in a practice match, but since the training camp would start tomorrow, no such match would take place. Instead their coach had made it a day centered around practicing the basics.

Which meant a seemingly never ending passing drill at the very start of practice.

“Grab a partner and start passing! No overhand sets and No,” he looked over at Bokuto, “spikes. Get to 100 without letting the ball drop.” Bokuto looked disappointed enough about not being able to spike to fall into his “emo-mode.”

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi called to him, pointing at the ball he had in his hands, “be my partner.” As he thought, the prospect of being paired up with him was enough to get Bokuto excited again. Barreling over, he grabbed the ball Akaashi was holding and led the way to the center of the gym. The rest of the team took their own spaces and began tossing the ball back and forth.

Standing across from Bokuto, Akaashi prepared to receive the first toss. “One,” he called, sending it back.

“TWO!” Bokuto responded, louder than strictly necessary. The pair practiced on their own together often enough that they quickly fell into their standard rhythm. They dropped the ball only at 4 because Bokuto yelled “My number!” and passed the ball far beyond what Akaashi could reach, and again at 5 after they restarted when he yelled “Your number!” and did the same thing.

Telling him to stick to just saying numbers, Akaashi retrieved the ball and they started over again. With Bokuto managing to containing himself, the pair reached 100 before any of their teammates. Eager to gloat, Bokuto yelled over to their coach.

“Hey Hey Hey! Give me an actual challenge! This is too easy for an Ace!”

“Ohh?” their coach asked, grinning down at Bokuto, “It’s too easy is it?” Turning to call to the rest of the team, who were just now finishing their own passes, he said, “Everyone! Bokuto-kun here has informed me that this drill is too easy for you all. So the new goal is 200 passes without dropping the ball. Have fun!” Everyone in the gym, including Akaashi, gave Bokuto a death glare.

“Whaaaat?” Bokuto looked shocked at this turn of events. Akaashi rolled his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself.

_ Bokuto’s Weakness no. 6: Speaks and boasts without thinking of consequences. _

Many restarts and finally a straight 200 passes later, the team finished the drill. Akaashi’s thighs were burning from holding proper receiving form, plus his arms had turned red where he’d been making contact with the ball for the past… Akaashi glanced at the clock hanging high on the gym wall.  _ 20 minutes.  _ Bokuto was dead to him for this.

Coach Takeyuki grinned at his tired team. “Tired already? But we’ve got so many more drills to do.” No one dared groan too loudly, since the loudest person always had to do wall sits. The team was pretty sure the rule was just the coaches attempt to keep Bokuto’s noise level bearable, but no one had ever confirmed it.

Regardless, it worked, and Akaashi wasn’t deafened by Bokuto’s complaints despite standing right next to him. Bokuto leaned his head onto Akaashi’s shoulder and sighed.

“I just want to spike one of your tosses,” he said, the faint trickle of Bokuto’s breath tickling his neck. Akaashi rested his head on top of Bokuto’s and murmured acknowledgement. That drill had left him much to tired, and a whole other hour of practice still awaited them.

Akaashi was surprised at how soft and fluffy Bokuto’s hair felt against his cheek. He’d always assumed that hair product was involved in making it stand up the way it did, but it felt like it was naturally like that. Moving his hand, Akaashi reached up to stroke it.

Just before his hand reached, Bokuto pulled away. The next drill had started.

Akaashi shook himself slightly. He’d gotten careless, reaching for Bokuto’s hair like that. What a stupid thing to do anyway, what did it matter how fluffy his hair was? Rubbing his cheek, Akaashi tried to focus on what his coach was saying. Sounded like they were doing 3v3’s next.

Bokuto was already waving and calling to him, Konoha standing next to him.  _ The usual group then,  _ Akaashi thought. Between Bokuto’s power, Akaashi’s sets, and Konoha’s all-around stability, they were usually the domineering team in 3v3’s.  

Setting up for their first match, Akaashi studied Bokuto before even looking at who they were facing. Luckily he appeared to be in high spirits; he was already dropping his body low into a receiving position, and his eyes practically sparkled with happiness over being able to play. No trace of any impatience that lead to a downswing in his mood.

Yet.

_ 4 matches,  _ he decided. That was his goal for keeping Bokuto happy like he was right now. Any good matches afterwards would just be bonuses.

“Mine,” Konoha called as the ball was served to them. The receive was sent nice and high, the easiest kind to set from. Bokuto started his run up to the net, and their eyes locked with each other.

_ Quick,  _ Bokuto told him, without saying a word. Jumping and straining his arms to reach the ball quicker, Akaashi tossed the ball explosively, matching its speed to Bokuto’s pace.       

“Hey Hey Hey!” Bokuto yelled, pumping his arms in the air as the spike smashed into the ground. Spinning around to point at Akaashi, he asked, “What do you think of your Ace, huh Akaashi? Aren’t I cool? Simply amazing? Right Akaashi?” Behind Bokuto was Konoha, mimicking him talking. Akaashi had to swallow a snort of laughter.

“Yes Bokuto-san, you looked very cool,” he replied. Rolling the ball to Konoha for his serve, Akaashi turned to face their opponents. “Let’s get another.” he told them, feeling unusually confident. Bokuto moved up to stand beside him, covering the back of his head.

“But man, I’m sure glad you sent a quick! I’d have looked so stupid jumping for a ball that wasn’t there.” Even though Bokuto was laughing, Akaashi remembered how frustrating trying to sync their attacks was when they had first met.

Akaashi looked over and smiled at him, “It’s what you wanted right? A quick?” Bokuto grinned back at him.

“You always know what I want! That’s why we’re such an unbeatable team!” Giving him a victory ‘V’ with his fingers, Bokuto turned his attention back to the game. “Nice serve!” Bokuto cheered to Konoha. Akaashi lingered on his face for a few more moments, tracing the lines on his grinning lips up to the crinkled corner of his sparkling eyes, before turning his attention back to the game.

“Nice serve,” he called.  

***

_ Unbeatable team indeed, _ Akaashi thought during their water break. Match after match had ended in a resounding victory for their team; even for their three stack, they were doing remarkably well.  

His and Bokuto’s silent communication was on point today, even more so than usual. Most of the team attributed their partnership to just getting along, that and Akaashi’s very high tolerance level, but none of them really understood the sheer amount of grueling hours that had poured into learning each other's rhythms.  

As a 1st year starting setter, Akaashi had been expected to set for their very excitable 2nd year ace. But he could never seem to give Bokuto the set he wanted consistently- Bokuto was too unpredictable for him. He’d go for quicks without notice, or simply charge up for a spike when Akaashi wasn’t prepared to set it to him.

During one particularly bad match against Nekoma, where not a single one of their attacks even made it over the net, Bokuto fell into his “emo-mode.” Akaashi had never witnessed it before, but seeing the usually lively ace fall silent and dejected was a shock. It was also the first weakness Akaashi noted about Bokuto.

_ Bokuto’s Weakness no. 1: His mood is contagious- good moods, and bad ones.  _

During that match, Akaashi had to watch as not only Bokuto, but the rest of his team also became more dejected.

Wanting to improve their teamwork so he didn’t have to see his team like that ever again, Akaashi asked Bokuto to stay after practice and hit his tosses. And he asked again during lunch the next day, and again before practice, and again after practice. Everyday he and Bokuto would hit hundreds of spikes, not including those at official practice.

They were spending so much time together by that point, it was natural that they synced up enough to hit a few sets during practice. And then some more during actual matches, until they became as good of a team as they were now. Somewhere along that (very bumpy) road, just a brief shared look between the two of them became enough to communicate.     

“Akaashiiii!”

The sound of his name being yelled pulled him out of his thoughts and back to the practice he was supposed to be in the middle of.

“We’re going for the cool down run, hurry up!” Bokuto was waving at him from the gym entrance, the rest of the team gathered behind him already, waiting.

_ Not a very good show for the Vice Captain, getting lost in your thoughts like that,  _ he scolded himself, standing up and jogging over to join them. Most of the team looked as exhausted as he felt from the long practice, but Bokuto took the lead, grinning as widely as ever.  

His cheerful captain led the group around their running route, singing to them the whole time. Even though he was struggling for breath, Akaashi couldn’t help but crack a smile along with the rest of the team.

***

Akaashi arrived early the next morning to help set up nets for the training camp. Shockingly, Bokuto had arrived before him, and was already pulling poles from the gym storage. Dropping the pole, Bokuto waved at him.

“Morning Akaashi! Here to help set up?” Akaashi nodded.

“Good morning Bokuto-san. I honestly wasn’t expecting to see you this early.” Bokuto acted offended, but they both knew it was out of the ordinary. Bokuto always showed up to help set up, but it was usually at the last possible moment. And it was completely unheard of for him to show up before Akaashi. A majority of their texts were him asking Bokuto if he had even gotten out of bed yet. Usually he hadn’t.

Grabbing another pole, he and Bokuto cinched the net into place and moved on to the next court. They had to set up all three courts for the training camp, as opposed to the usual two, since Karasuno was joining this time around.    

“Kuroo told me some more stories about the new team!” Bokuto excitedly filled him in on all Kuroo had told him last night about Karasuno. Not having the heart to remind him that they had been talking in the group chat, so he already knew everything, Akaashi let Bokuto chatter on.

Slowly the rest of their team showed up, and took to passing a ball around. There wasn’t much else to do except wait for the other schools to show up. Eventually the vans containing the other teams started to arrive. When Nekoma pulled up, Bokuto and Akaashi left their team to go greet them.

Running ahead, Bokuto immediately found Kuroo. Their reunion was just a string of heartfelt “bros” and one very, very long hug. Moving to stand next to Kenma, Akaashi looked at the spectacle that was their two captains. Kenma just kept his attention on his PSP.

“Karasuno hasn’t gotten here yet,” Bokuto pouted, looking around for their van. Kenma looked up from his game at the mention of them.

_ Just what kind of team are they if Kenma is interested in them enough to stop playing games?  _ Akaashi wondered.

“Since they’re coming here from a different district and for the first time, I suppose it’s natural that they’re a little late,” Akaashi considered outloud.

“Oh, we went and met up with them beforehand, just so they wouldn’t get lost. They were just behind us,” Kuroo told them, turning around to look down the road. There wasn’t a van to be seen, and Akaashi didn’t plan on just waiting around forever for the possibly lost newcomers.

“Well, wait for them out here,” he instructed Kuroo, “You’re the ones who invited them anyway.” Grabbing Bokuto’s hand, he dragged him back inside the gym, ignoring his protests.

“But it’s  _ our  _ training camp, we should greet them Akaaashi!” Akaashi rolled his eyes.

“You just want to meet them, don’t you.” Akaashi accused him, glancing backwards. Bokuto didn’t correct him, but he continued complaining as Akaashi tossed him a volleyball.

A few minutes later, Kuroo entered the gym followed by a very wide-eyed group in black warm-ups. Bokuto was busy hitting tosses, and hadn’t noticed them yet. Waving to get his attention, Akaashi pointed in their direction.

“Karasuno’s here Bokuto-san.” Bokuto whipped around to stare at the newcomers. His stare was full of intense curiosity, and Konoha, who was waiting to toss the ball for him, got impatient.

Throwing the ball at Bokuto, he told him, “Stop staring like that, they’ll get scared.” Bokuto rubbed the back of his head where the ball had hit him, pouting. But he didn’t have time to respond as the coaches called all the teams to the center of the gym. Nekoma’s coach stepped forward to address them all.  

“As I’m sure you know, we have invited a new team to join us at this years training camp.” Nekoma’s coach nodded his head to the Karasuno boys, who bowed back in thanks. “Karasuno is an old rival of Nekoma, and our practice matches of late have been… interesting.”

Akaashi noted how his smile seemed to reach even his eyes. Glancing sideways at Karasuno, Akaashi tried to gauge what kind of team they were. They’d made Nekoma interested enough to invite them to this training camp, which was highly unusual. Put that together with how Kuroo and even Kenma talked non stop about them, and Akaashi had no idea what kind of people they were.     

“But enough of that!” Nekoma’s coach laughed, “Let’s start the 12th annual  training camp!”

_ Guess we’ll know about them soon enough, _ Akaashi thought, jogging with the rest of his team onto the court for their first match. Karasuno, after some confusion, made their way onto the other side of the net.  

Blowing his whistle, the ref motioned for Karasuno to serve.

***

Taking a long drink from his water bottle, Akaashi sat down next to Bokuto and Kuroo. Together they watched as Karasuno sprinted up the hill outside the gym as punishment. A few were yelling as they charged ahead, the others diligently following their lead.

Karasuno’s games hadn’t been going well. They weren’t a horrible team, Akaashi conceded, but nor were they able to get anywhere near winning a game. He almost felt bad for them, especially when they faced his team. His and Bokuto’s perfect communication seemed to have carried over from yesterday, and they were tearing through Karasuno’s blocks.       

Akaashi looked over to Bokuto sitting next to him. He was watching Karasuno with a smile, laughing with Kuroo about their enthusiasm while doing a punishment. Bokuto had a few drops of sweat on his neck, and Akaashi tracked them as they trickled down his neck and over his collarbone before disappearing into his shirt.

Managing to drag his attention away from Bokuto and over to Kuroo, Akaashi pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them.  

“I feel like you lied to us about them,” Akaashi told him offhandedly. Kuroo stopped laughing with Bokuto to look over at him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Akaashi turned his head to look at Karasuno, now finishing up their punishment. They’d done so many throughout the day that they now looked exhausted. Half of them were panting on the floor while the others chugged water.

“After all your stories, I expected something more.” Kuroo looked at him offended, and Akaashi sighed. “They’re not  _ bad, _ ” he assured him, “just underwhelming.” Kurro pondered his words for a second.

“Well, the fun ones haven’t come yet,” he told him, grinning. Akaashi stared down Kuroo, unsure of what that could mean. Karasuno was by no means normal, that much he could tell from their few short matches. How much weirder could they get? They already had the loud hairless monk, a libero who kept yelling something about thunder, and what appeared to be a more intimidating Jesus on their team.

Well, their captain did appear to be more haggard than any normal high schooler should be, he considered. Akaashi found himself sympathizing with the poor guy, especially since he was currently holding back both the hairless monk and the libero from fighting the glasses kid.

The glasses kid just kept taunting them, wearing a smirk that looked suspiciously like one Kuroo made on a regular basis. Not a good sign.        

The gym doors suddenly flung open, banging against the wall and letting in a stifling hot breeze. Everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing to see who had arrived. In the doorway stood a grumpy looking black haired kid, and next to him was an incredibly short orange haired boy. They both looked like they were about to throw up, either from nerves or something else.

“We apologize for being late!” They yelled at the top of their lungs to the whole gym, bowing. Akaashi watched as they ran over to join Karasuno, the rest of their team welcoming them loudly.

Glancing over, Kuroo smirked at him and gestured to the boys.

“The fun ones have arrived.”   

***

Kuroo was right, having the grumpy one and the shorty on the court certainly livened up matches. The shorty got Bokuto all riled up instantly, practically drowning him in praise over being Fukurōdani's ace. Even though his jump was impressive, Akaashi noticed that Karasuno’s setter was the one enabling the shorty, even if the shorty’s showy personality stole attention away from it.

_ Their setter is impressive,  _ Akaashi thought. If he had that level of control over the ball, his sets to Bokuto would be even better. But Akaashi didn’t have much time to admire his counterpart.

“Bokuto-san, please stop falling for decoys!” Akaashi told Bokuto for the tenth time that set. Karasuno had scored multiple points off them because Bokuto kept getting sucked in by that shrimp, whatever his name was.  

On the other side of the net, the shorty was excitedly yelling about being the greatest decoy. About four more of his teammates joined in on the yelling, either in praise or telling them all to shut up.

Meanwhile, Bokuto was dramatically on his knees, covering his face.

“AHH, I FELL FOR IT AGAIN,” he cried, distraught. Standing up to face his team he assured them, “Next time, for sure, I won’t be sucked in!”

His team didn’t really believe him, most of all Akaashi.

Looking at the scoreboard, Akaashi wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt. Even if they kept scoring points off Bokuto like that, Fukurōdani would still easily win. Especially since his and Bokuto’s spikes were getting through consistently.

Preparing to receive Karasuno’s serve, Akaashi called out to Bokuto one last time,

“Don’t get sucked in by that shorty, and just hit my toss like usual.”

“Right!” Bokuto yelled back at him, eyes shining. Akaashi grinned. This would be an easy match.    

***

The squeak of court shoes and the smack of a volleyball against skin drifted out of one of the side gyms and into the cool night air. Inside, Akaashi, Bokuto, and Kuroo were passing the ball between each other, chatting about how each team had done that day and what still needed to be worked on. They always gathered at the end of the night to hang out like this.

Usually Kenma was with them, but he had already escaped, and was probably playing a game somewhere. Getting tired of the “business talk” as he called it, Bokuto spiked the ball all the way across the gym.

“This is getting boring!” he complained. Akaashi and Kuroo exchanged glances, knowing exactly where this was going. “Let’s grab some more guys and do 3v3’s,” he suggested, like he did every time.

“Bokuto-san, no one will play with us this late; it’s exhausting and we still have one more day of the camp.” Akaashi told him, walking over to fetch the ball.  

“I can think of a few people we can invite,” Kuroo said. The smirk plastered on his face usually spelled nothing but trouble for Akaashi. Giving him a hard stare, he asked,

“Is it people from Karasuno?” Kuroo looked away like a petulant child, and shrugged. Akaashi sighed; he’d figured as much. “I’m against it, they weren’t as impressive as you made them out to be.” Both Kuroo and Bokuto looked at him in surprise.

“You think so Akaashi?” Bokuto asked, puzzled. “I thought that shorty was pretty impressive, especially his jump and that quick he does with their setter!” Bokuto grinned at Kuroo and continued, “Plus Kuroo is trying to take that glasses kid under his wing to train him.”

Kuroo shrugged, not denying it. “They may be rough around the edges Akaashi, but you can’t deny they’ve got potential. I just want to see them develop.”

“More like you want to ensure the ‘Battle of the Garbage Heap’ happens for real,” Akaashi noted dryly. Kuroo laughed, not denying it. Bokuto looked deep in thought, seeming to ignore the conversation at present. Finally turning to Kuroo, he declared,

“If you you get to have glasses-kun as a disciple, then I claim shorty as mine!”

Akaashi’s face took on an expression Kuroo had dubbed his “ugh face.” Anytime Bokuto looked deep in thought, something stupid usually came out of his mouth shortly after. Even so, this seemed a bit extreme- Bokuto, teach someone? And Karasuno’s shorty at that. Akaashi didn’t have the patience for both his and Bokuto’s energy and enthusiasm.       

Kuroo looked at him with pity. “Think you can handle them both?” he asked. Akaashi shook his head.

“There’s no way in hell I could,” he replied, tossing the ball high for Bokuto to spike. Giving a yell, Bokuto smashed it over the net they were using.

_ I don’t need anyone's excitement other than Bokuto’s,  _ Akaashi thought to himself, smiling as his Ace pumped his fists in the air, yelling his standard ‘hey hey hey!’

_ Even if Bokuto did train that shorty,  _ Akaashi decided,  _ he would never be able to compete with Bokuto on an even playing field. _ The shorty would be on his own- Bokuto had Akaashi for support.

They were an unbeatable team after all. 

***

_ The final day,  _ Akaashi thought, staring out the window as he stretched. They only had one match left, then the final dinner, but after that he could finally rest his aching muscles. This camp had been harder than the others, not just because of the extra matches due to Karasuno joining them, but also because all the teams seemed to be in peak performance.    

Well, almost all the teams. Karasuno seemed to be falling apart little by little as the Tokyo teams got used to their freak quick, and learned to counter it. Even though they were being forced into trying new things, they seemed hesitant to change.

Akaashi shrugged off his worries about Karasuno’s future. Fukurōdani had already gone through it’s own team evolution, and he had no desire to live through another one of those. Finishing his stretches, he looked around for Bokuto.    

“Bokuto-san, out match is about to start,” Akaashi called out to Bokuto, who was standing a little ways away. He didn’t respond, an unusual occurrence when Akaashi talked to him; instead he was intently watching the Nekoma vs Karasuno match. Narrowing his eyes, Akaashi tried to figure out what exactly had caught Bokuto’s attention.

Karasuno seemed unsteady, and judging by the point gap, they hadn’t been able to find a foothold for a while. Watching the first year duo, the grumpy one and the shorty, it reminded him of before he and Bokuto had synced up.

But it looked like the grumpy one wasn’t even setting to the shorty anymore. Instead, Akaashi watched as he sent a high toss, clearly meant for their ace.

Out of the corner of his eye, Akaashi watched a flash of orange leap up to the ball. The shorty’s face expressed nothing but sheer happiness over being able to spike that toss. Akaashi had seen that face before, many many times. Glancing over to Bokuto, he froze.

Bokuto was ginning calmly for once; the shorty’s stunt had obviously impressed him. Their conversation from last night echoed in the back of his head.

_ “If you you get to have glasses-kun as a disciple, then I claim shorty as mine!” _

If Bokuto wasn’t planning on teaching that kid before, he certainly was now. Akaashi tried to remember what his name was- he had a feeling he’d be seeing a lot of him from this point on.    __

A ray of sunlight fell across the shorty’s radiant smile, almost blinding Akaashi. Suddenly, he remembered his name.

_ Hinata Shouyou.   _

***

The days following the first week of training camp were filled with analyzing how they’d done and what still needed to be worked on. Bokuto’s susceptibility to decoys was high on the list.   

The day before the second week of the training camp was supposed to start, their coach gathered them around to go over the details.

“Since Karasuno will be there again, the sleeping arrangements have changed slightly,” he told them, looking over the papers on his clipboard. Konoha stopped him before he could continue.

“Wait, Karasuno’s coming to next week’s training camp too?” Konoha asked, unimpressed. After their coach raised an eyebrow at him, he continued, “Nekoma hyped them up so much, but they were kinda unimpressive.” Most of the team muttered in agreement, and Akaashi found himself nodding as well. Karasuno didn’t perform poorly, but nor had they been up to par with the other Tokyo teams Fukurōdani was used to facing.

As everyone muttered about Karasuno, Bokuto turned around to look at them all in confusion.

“Did you guys really think they don’t have any potential?” Bokuto’s eyes were sharp, he must think much more of Karasuno than Akaashi had thought. “They didn’t do  _ anything _ that sent a shiver down your spine?” Bokuto asked them.

For a brief moment Akaashi was brought back to the last day of the camp and the look on Hinata’s face when he stole a spike meant for his own ace. Akaashi clasped his hands together like he always did when he was unsure of something, and fiddled with his fingers.

Glancing around, he could tell some of his teammates also remembered that moment, and they all quieted down. Their coach looked them all over for a moment before speaking.

“Bear in mind that even if we’re not gaining a lot from our matches, Karasuno is. They’re going to take what they’ve learned over the training camp about their weaknesses, and train to fix them.”

His tone became harder, as he stared them all down, “They are not a weak team, and they have the potential for explosive growth,” he reminded them. Bokuto grinned at the warning their coach had just given them.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait till tomorrow to see how they’ve grown, huh?” Bokuto’s eyes were sparkling like they did after a really good spike. Akaashi continued fiddling with his fingers.    

***

Luckily for Karasuno, they stuck closer to their Nekoma escort this time and arrived on time. Plus, the two freshman were already with them. Nekoma and Karasuno were still mingling together outside the gym when Akaashi, Bokuto and the rest of Fukurōdani arrived.

Going over with Bokuto to greet everyone, Akaashi kept an eye on the shorty, Hinata, standing off to the side with Kenma. Kuroo was providing official introductions of the Karasuno team members, and Akaashi had to focus on that instead. He was very bad with remembering names, but he always made an effort.

Making a mental list, Akaashi tried his best to match names to faces. The bald monk was Tanaka, loud libero Nishinoya, glasss kid Tsukki (or was it Tsukishima? Everyone called him a different name...), the grumpy setter Kageyama, cheery setter Sugawara, tired captain Daichi, scary Jesus was Asahi, and of course, Hinata the shorty.

He was never going to remember all these. Sighing, Akaashi glanced over at Bokuto. He was already laughing and joking around with them, with a familiarity of long time friends. Akaashi always wondered how Bokuto could naturally endear himself to others the way he did.

Akaashi wasn’t even sure how Bokuto had become friends with him as fast as he did.    

Standing a little apart from the group, Akaashi just observed them all. Bokuto was already excitedly talking to Hinata, the two were so similar it wasn’t surprising they hit it off that fast.

Even standing as far away as he was, Akaashi could make out their conversation. Bokuto was challenging him to a match after hours; looked like they would be having people join in on their private night practice.

Someone tapped on his shoulder, startling him. Jerking away slightly, Akaashi was surprised to find himself face to face with one of Karasuno’s setters. The friendly one.

“Oh!,” the boy said, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

_ What was his name again?  _ Akaashi desperately tried to remember what Kuroo had said his name was. Finally it came to him.

Returning the smile, Akaashi reassured him, “No, don’t worry about it, I was just startled. Sugawara-san, correct? You’re Karasuno’s setter.” Akaashi breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded.

“Akaashi right? You looked bored standing here, so I thought I’d come talk to you,” Sugawara explained. His smile wasn’t as energetic as Bokuto’s, but rather it was soft and warm.

“I’m just not good with new people,” Akaashi told him, “so I’ve found it’s easier to let Bokuto-san befriend everyone before getting involved.” It was a system he had discovered a while ago, and was the only reason Akaashi ever made new friends. Sugawara laughed.

“I’m the same way! Usually I just follow behind Daichi or Hinata, they make friends out of anyone.” Akaashi nodded in understanding, Bokuto was the same way.

Sugawara began fidgeting uncomfortably, and Akaashi gave him a questioning look. Furrowing his brow and pointing over to the group they were standing a little apart from, he asked,

“Do you get the feeling we’re being watched?”

Glancing over to where he was pointing, Akaashi’s heart stopped for a second. Bokuto, Kuroo, and Karasuno’s captain ( _ Daichi, _ Akaashi reminded himself) were staring at the two of them intently.

“What?” Akaashi asked, knitting his hands together. They continued to stare, and Akaashi shared a nervous look with Sugawara. Finally Bokuto broke the silence.

“I see your point Daichi, but in the end, Akaashi’s the prettiest!” Bokuto declared loudly. Walking over, he threw a hand over his shoulder and used the other hand to smush Akaashi’s cheeks together. “Just look at him!” he told Daichi.

Standing beside him, Sugawara looked on mortified. Daichi was shaking his head sadly, and Kuroo was leaning on his shoulder, cracking up. Akaashi stood there, Bokuto still mushing his cheeks, for a few more moments, processing. Finally, he reached up slowly to grab Bokuto’s wrist. Yanking his hand off his face and glaring down at Bokuto, he asked coldly,

“What exactly are you talking about, Bokuto-san?” Bokuto’s face went completely blank- he knew an angry Akaashi when he saw one.  

“Um, well, when we saw you and Sugawara standing together, Kuroo said you guys looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. So I said you’d definitely make a good princess, but Daichi claimed Suga would be a better one, so we were... debating... that…” he trailed off. While Bokuto was talking, Akaashi had slowly been tightening his grip on Bokuto’s wrist.

_ A princess?!  _ Akaashi knew Bokuto thought he was pretty- it was something he brought up often, much to his annoyance. But a princess? That was a new one.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto asked carefully. Akaashi snapped his eyes to glare directly at him.

“I’m not setting for you today.”

“Akaaashiiiii,” Bokuto wailed, bursting into tears. Bokuto clung to him, begging for forgiveness. Ignoring him and disgusted, he pointed over at Kuroo, who was laughing even harder than before.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook either!” he yelled at him, “What the hell do you mean we look like we’re from a fairy tail?” Kuroo was absolutely losing it. Behind him the rest of Karasuno and Nekoma was also laughing, and even Sugawara seemed to have found the humor in the situation.  

Trying to regain his composure. Kuroo stepped forward. Taking a deep bow, he said,

“Your highness, shall we begin our procession into the gym?” Before he even got halfway through the sentence, Kuroo had started laughing again. Akaashi was surprised he managed to finish the sentence at all.          

Instead of giving him an actual response, Akaashi turned around and stalked into the gym. He was trying to make a graceful exit, but with Bokuto clinging to his leg, it was incredibly difficult. Everyone still laughing, they followed him in.

_ What a great start to the camp,  _  Akaashi thought, blushing profusely.  _ Bokuto befriends the entire Karasuno team and calls me a pretty princess. Great. _

_ *** _

Even though Akaashi said he wouldn’t, he still wound up tossing to Bokuto during their matches. After seeing how gloomy Bokuto looked when he didn’t pass to him the first time, Akaashi couldn’t bring himself to do it anymore.

Throughout the rest of the day, Fukurōdani wracked up win after win. Much to Akaashi’s disappointment, his and Bokuto’s communication wasn’t as on point as it had been during the last camp, especially when they faced Karasuno. For some reason Bokuto was paying more attention to their team than to his own.

Hinata was becoming a rather large hurdle, to Akaashi’s dismay. Bokuto had been sucked in by him a lot last time, and it didn’t look like the decoy training they had done in between training camps helped much. Hinata only kept riling Bokuto up to new levels of enthusiasm, acting as the perfect decoy and attracting Bokuto’s attention.        

“Hey Akaashi,” Bokuto asked lazily, “who's our last match against today?” Glancing over, Akaashi watched as Bokuto took another sip of water. The entire day had been filled with tough matches, including the ones with Karasuno, and it was starting to take a toll on everyone.

Taking the water bottle from him, Akaashi took his own sip before handing it back. In the back of his head, the thought that he’d just shared an indirect kiss with Bokuto passed by. Quickly dismissing it, he answered Bokuto’s question.  

“Karasuno if I remember correctly.” Bokuto quickly perked up, while the rest of the team who was in earshot grimaced. All traces of tiredness had left Bokuto, and he lept up, already starting the pre-game stretches.    

Akaashi sighed; he still felt tired even if Bokuto didn’t. Plus facing off against Karasuno did not seems as appealing to him.

“Wonder what type of attack Hinata’ll do this time,” Bokuto wondered. Akaashi had much the same thought. All of Karasuno, but especially Hinata, had evolved significantly since the last training camp.  

But Hinata’s evolution was the most dangerous for them. Bokuto paid too much attention to him, playing right into their hands. Akaashi was starting to get frustrated, reminding him over and over again to focus on the entire game, not just one player.

It was especially annoying that Hinata always looked so proud whenever it happened. Akaashi knew he’d have to figure out some way to refocus Bokuto, or he risked him falling into “emo-mode.”

Their coached called them over for the start of their match with Karasuno. It was going to be the last match for the day, and their coach wanted them to end it with a bang. Moving onto the court, Akaashi studied Bokuto, trying to figure out his mood.

However, Bokuto was grinning over at Hinata rather than at his team like he usually did before a match. Akaashi grimaced. The game hadn’t even started and that shorty was already being a decoy.

Karasuno’s new attacks, which had been practically unusable at the start of the camp, were beginning to come together. They were still lacking in many areas, but every game found them losing by a smaller and smaller point gap.   

“Chance ball!” one of his teammates called out. His and Bokuto’s eyes met, sharing a brief look.

_ It still won’t be enough to beat us,  _ Akaashi thought, grinning. He and Bokuto were an unbeatable team.

_ Normal A quick.  _ Tossing the ball to Bokuto, Akaashi felt good. The toss was perfect. Bokuto’s form looked good too. It was going to score, there was no way it wouldn’t.

A flash of orange blocked Bokuto’s view.

“ONE TOUCH,” Hinata yelled to the rest of his team. Their libero picking it up, Hinata backed up and started his run for a jump. Before anyone on Fukurōdani could react, Karasuno unleashed their new freak quick.

Blowing his whistle, the ref awarded Karasuno a point. Akaashi closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He’d really thought that one would go through.    

“Hey, Akaashi,” Bokuto said. Slowly opened his eyes, Akaashi looked over. He’d expected Bokuto to be annoyed or even angry, but instead he was grinning broadly over at Hinata. His eyes were sparkling, as if he’d actually scored off that spike.

“I’m gonna invite him to our night practice.” Bokuto told him. Akaashi’s heart sank.

He didn’t want that kid joining his and Bokuto’s private practices; it was bad enough when just Kuroo joined them. Tsukishima was coming tonight too, Akaashi remembered; Kuroo had said he was going to drag him if necessary.  

“You’ll have to convince him to come first,” Akaashi told him, trying to make it sound unlikely. He knew Hinata would be ecstatic to join, but maybe if Bokuto thought he didn’t want to…

Bokuto wasn’t even listening to him, instead yelling to HInata about how he’d get him back. Slightly miffed, Akaashi got in position for Karasuno’s serve.

His next few tosses went to the middle blocker, instead of Bokuto. 

***

The cool night air flowing in from the open gym door wasn’t cooling Akaashi down enough. Sweating through his shirt, he looked over at his two other teammates for the 3v3. Both Bokuto and Hinata were still jumping around, yelling at Kuroo, Tsukishima, and Lev for blocking all their spikes.  

“How do the two of you,” Akaashi gasped out, “Have so much energy?” Bokuto and Hinata exchanged puzzled looks. Even though they were sweating, neither looked tired in any way, shape, or form. Both of them laughed, and grinned at each other.

Akaashi thought he was going to go blind from how bright they were.

“Guess were just too similar!” Bokuto crowed, throwing an arm around Hinata. The other boy was practically enveloped by Bokuto, mushed up against his side like that. Akaashi felt a twinge in his chest, realizing that Bokuto hadn’t done that to him recently.

_ What a stupid thing to want,  _ Akaashi told himself. What did it matter if Bokuto was hugging Hinata and not him?

“How much longer are we going to go,” Akaashi asked exasperated, “We’ve been here for over 3 hours already.” Bokuto gave him puppy eyes, Hinata and Kuroo joining in behind him.

“But Akaaaashhhiii, tomorrow's the last day of the camp! We won’t get to see Hinata again for a long time!”

_ Good,  _ Akaashi thought. Realizing what he’d thought, Akaashi was shocked. Hinata was a good kid, it was stupid of him to be acting this way. Bokuto took his silence as a no, and tried to plead with him again.

“We’ve got to make the most of our time together!”

Gathering up his feelings, Akaashi shoved them to the back of his mind. Kuroo and Bokuto were both looking at him expectantly, he could hear them quietly whispering “oya oya?” to themselves. He really should just say no.

Giving an exaggerated sigh, he conceded, “One more game, but that’s it for tonight.” Hinata and Bokuto both yelled in excitement, running back onto the court.

Akaashi stepped up to the line to serve. In front of him, Bokuto was telling Hinata where to move after the serve. Hinata looked at him, intently listening and soaking it all in. Satisfied he understood, Bokuto turned back to face the net. Akaashi narrowed his eyes.

_ It doesn’t bug you that he forgot to tell you ‘nice serve’ because he was talking to Hinata,  _ Akaashi told himself sternly.  _ It doesn’t bother you. _

Akaashi slammed the ball over the net, and all the way out of bounds.

It may have bothered him a little bit. 

***

The first half of the last day of training camp was rough on Akaashi. His sets to Bokuto were far from perfect, especially during matches with Karasuno. He was glad when they all broke for lunch, if only because it gave him the chance to clear his head for a bit.  

Akaashi was waiting just inside the doors to the lunchroom for Bokuto to show up, everyone else filing past him to grab their food. His stomach growled with impatience, but Bokuto being late was nothing new. Plus, he'd just pout if Akkashi started eating without him.

That morning's matches had been hard as everyone tried to get the most out of the last day of camp. Akaashi just wanted to forget about volleyball for a bit and eat some of the curry that smelled delicious. His stomach growled again. 

Finally he heard Bokuto’s trademark loud voice, and saw him come through the other set of doors to his right. Akaashi took a step toward him, already thinking of how he was going to lecture him for making him wait. Bokuto glanced over, and called out.

Not to him though.

"Hinata!" he yelled, waving at the shorty who was sitting down with the rest of his team, just behind where Akaashi was standing. "I'll be over there in a minute, gotta grab food!"

Turning, he finally saw Akaashi. "Yo Akkashi, you gonna join us?" he asked, moving straight past him to grab food.

Akaashi’s lecture died in his throat. What just happened? Did Bokuto not see him? But Bokuto always,  _ always _ , saw him. It didn’t matter if Akaashi was across the entire god damn gym during an assembly, Bokuto could still single him out and loudly get his attention (which he did during this years opening ceremony- the teacher’s weren’t happy).

And yet Hinata had somehow gotten Bokuto’s attention first. Akaashi continued to stand there, trying to figure out what had just happened. Why did it even bother him this much? It couldn’t have been the first time it had happened. He was still wracking his brain for some memory of Bokuto not immediately talking to him when Kuroo and the rest of the Nekoma team walked it.

“If you wait to long, all the good food’ll be gone,” Kuroo told him as he walked by, “You’ve seen how these guys eat.” Akaashi ignored his comment, and Kuroo’s smirk turned to a frown as he backtracked to face Akaashi.

“You good?” he asked, mildly concerned. Akaashi gave him a noncommittal grunt, still trying to think.    

“Yo, Akaashi, Kuroo, hurry up and grab food so we can eat!” Bokuto yelled at the two of them. Bokuto’s voice snapped Akaashi back to the lunchroom, and he briefly locked eyes with Kuroo.

“I’m fine,” he finally replied, turning to get in line for food. Akaashi could feel Kuroo’s curious eyes boring into the back of his head.

_ Curiosity killed the cat you pain-in-the-ass-Kuroo-san.  _ He was irritated enough without Kuroo’s help. He was irritated at Bokuto, at Hinata, and at himself for even being irritated.

_ There’s nothing to be irritated at,  _ he told himself strictly as he sat next to Bokuto. Across from them sat Hinata.  

_ Nothing at all,  _ he told himself again, trying to ignore him for the time being. Out of the corner of his eye he could still see Hinata’s orange hair bouncing around as much as he was. Next to him, Akaashi could feel Bokuto fidgeting just as much.  

Bokuto hadn't stopped chattering about what a great disciple Hinata had become since they'd all sat down together. Even though they weren’t on the court, he was still managing to steal all of Bokuto’s attention.    

"Hinata, do you ever stop being a decoy?" Akaashi asked him, irritated. Afraid he’d sounded rude, Akaashi studied his reaction. Hinata didn’t appear to be offended, so it looked like he was safe.

“It’s in his nature now,” Bokuto interjected. Hinata was too busy shoveling more curry into his mouth to add on. Taking a bite of his own, Akaashi stopped talking. Through a mouthful of food, Bokuto kept talking with Hinata during the rest of the break.

_ Nothing to be annoyed about at all,  _ Akaashi thought, pushing his curry away. It left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.  

***

The last day of the training camp was wrapping up, and Fukurōdani only had two matches left after this. But Akaashi wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it through this one. On the other side of the net, Karasuno had settled into their rhythm and were staring straight at Fukurōdani, challenging them.      

Their attacks had gotten much more coordinated, posing an actual threat to them now. Akaashi was sweating through his shirt again, much like the rest of his team. Bokuto, however, looked as lively as ever. Edging on Hinata, Bokuto boldly called out,

“Oi, Hinata! You better watch out, cause I’m definitely gonna score next time!” Puffing his chest out, Bokuto tried to look as intimidating as possible. Hinata tried mimicking him as he stood at the line for his serve.  

Since it was that shorty’s serve, the receive would probably be solid, if it didn’t go out of bounds first.  

“Chance ball,” his team called, running into position. The receive went high, and Bokuto flicked his eyes over to look at Akaashi for just a moment.

_ A quick?  _ Akaashi wondered, unsure. Bokuto was moving up fast, faster than usual. Struggling to add the power necessary to match his pace, Akaashi sent the ball to Bokuto. Luckily, they barely managed to sync up, and Bokuto smashed it down before Karasuno’s blockers could reach.   

Bokuto wrinkled his brow and stared down at his hand.

“Did you not like that quick, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked, confused. They had managed to sync up, even if it was a little rough. They’d scored a point off it too.

Bokuto still looked unhappy. “It was a good set, but I wanted something a little more…” he trailed off, pouting, as he tried to think of a good description. Finally he pointed over to Hinata, standing across from them on the other side of the net.  

“Hinata described it as the ‘guah’ toss, you know the super fast one? I wanted a toss like that.” Akaashi was in shock.

“You wanted me to toss like Karasuno’s setter?” he asked, standing stock still.

“Yeah!” Bokuto told him, happy he understood, “I want to hit a quick like there's. We’ll be unstoppable if we add my power to a quick like that, don’t you think?”

Akaashi didn’t know how to respond. Bokuto had asked him to adjust his set before, sure, but this was something completely different. Part of him wanted to ask,  ‘why do they have to be Karasuno’s attacks and not  _ ours _ ?’ The rest of him wanted to scream, ‘why aren’t  _ my  _ tosses good enough?’

On the other side of the net, Hinata was starry eyed, thinking about how Bokuto wanted to hit a spike like he did.

Akaashi swallowed past the lump in his throat. Calmly, he told Bokuto, “I can’t set like Karasuno’s setter can. For now, we’ll have to stick to our normal attacks.” Bokuto looked disappointed at his response. Clenching his fist, Akaashi tried to refocus on the game.

It didn’t matter Bokuto didn’t like his toss. All that mattered was that they had scored, and that they’d do it again.

Karasuno managed to score off their next attack, and the next few as well. Bokuto and Hinata kept getting more and more fired up each point. Looking to turn things back in their favor, everyone on Fukurōdani focused in on Karasuno’s next serve.  

Komi called it, and smoothly received the killer serve from Karasuno’s angry setter.

The pass was a high one, giving Akaashi the freedom of a perfect set. He looked to Bokuto to see what kind of toss he wanted, but Bokuto wasn't looking back at him for once. Instead, he had locked eyes with Hinata, the two grinning at each other in competition. Bokuto was trying to gauge where Hinata would go, instead of where Akaashi would toss.

That was the last straw.  

"Bokuto-san, please pay attention to me!" Akkashi yelled in frustration. The ball touched Akaashi's fingertips, but with no idea where to send it, he just held it there, hanging above his head.

Finally the full realization of what he'd just said hit him, and he dropped his hands to hold the ball to his chest, using it as a barrier between him and Bokuto. Bokuto, and everyone else in the gym it seemed, was staring at him open-mouthed.

He could feel a deep blush set in, with the only thought being a repeating string of FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Trying to recover, he attempted to return to his usual cool demeanor. Pretty sure he was still red in the face, he glared Bokuto down, and added,

"You're being sucked in by Hinata. You're ignoring your team Bokuto-san."

On the court next to him, Kuroo snickered. "More like ignoring you," he said, just loud enough for them to hear. Akaashi decided that he’d have to kill Kuroo later.

For now a quick glare would have to do. Turning his attention back to Bokuto, he continued berating him, praying his voice stayed steady.

"If you don't focus on me, I can't give you the kind of toss you want."  _ Please focus on me again _ , he wanted to add, but held his tongue. It wouldn't just be Kuroo giving him shit if he said something like that.

Bokuto was staring at him dumbfounded. Akaashi had yelled at him before during matches, but he’d never actually stopped one entirely. Akaashi felt his heart pounding against his ribs. He shouldn’t have been so dramatic. Everyone was still staring. Wishing they’d just look away, he turned and bowed to the ref and coaches.

“I’m sorry for stopping the game. If we could please resume?” He said the last part practically begging, trying to get everyone to move on. The ref looked confused, but nodded.        

Akaashi managed to survive the rest of the match, even though he wanted to sprint off the court and find an empty room to hide in the entire time. As soon as it was over (they’d won), Akaashi excused himself, making a beeline for the door.

Their next match wouldn’t be for a while anyway, it’d be fine if he slipped away to be alone. Akaashi tried to think where he could go and collect himself, somewhere no one else would be during break.     

Making his way to the gym storage room, Akaashi shut the door behind him. The lighting wasn’t great, but at least it was cooler than the gym. Leaning against one of the many mats in the room, Akaashi buried his head in his hands.

“Why did you do that,” he muttered to himself. Akaashi could feel himself shaking, and his breaths were coming in ragged pants. If he didn’t calm down, he’d probably start crying.

Even through his hands on his face, Akaashi could see the room grow brighter as someone opened the door. The light shining from the doorway hid the person's face, but Akaaashi didn’t need to see it to know who it was.  

“I’m sorry,” he told Bokuto, not making eye contact, “but can you leave me alone for a bit?”

“I think we should talk,” Bokuto responded. His voice was soft for once, and Akaashi looked up, finally meeting his gaze. Bokuto met his eyes evenly.

“You didn’t toss to me after that,” Bokuto said softly. Akaashi flinched, even though his tone wasn’t accusing. Bokuto was right, he’d avoided tossing to him after his outburst. But he was afraid that he’d look to Bokuto again, only to find Bokuto wasn’t looking at him.

He might have been looking at Hinata again.

Bokuto closed the door to the gym storage room behind him. Akaashi wanted nothing more than to run away in that moment. He didn’t want to deal with the situation, with Bokuto, and definitely not with the feelings swirling around inside himself.

Bokuto stepped towards him. Akaashi took a step back, and Bokuto frowned.

“What’s going on?” he asked.   

“I-” Akaashi started. What could he say? I want you to pay attention to me again? I feel lonely? What happened to us? Why are you always looking at Hinata?

Akaashi felt tears start to sting at the back of his eyes. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he had to stop and focus on not crying.

_ Bokuto’s Weakness no. 7: Cries when other people cry, usually harder than the original crier.   _

Akaashi knitted his hands together and fidgeted. He wasn’t even sure he could manage to say anything at this point. Bokuto stepped closer to him again, and reached out. Pulling Akaashi in close to him, he didn’t say a word.

Bokuto often hugged him, but this was different from all those other times. Clutching him close, Bokuto seemed to wrap his entire being around him, providing a safe place, made especially for him. Sinking into the feeling, Akaashi wrapped his arms around Bokuto to clutch at the back of his shirt. Pressing his face against Bokuto’s chest, he felt tears begin to slip down his face.

“I- things got weird, after Hinata came. And I want,” Akaashi took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady, “I just want us to be  _ us  _ again.”

Bokuto tightened his grip on Akaashi. Gritting his teeth, words he’d been holding back suddenly wouldn’t stop coming. Crying into Bokuto’s shirt, Akaashi ranted.

“What’s so special about Hinata and Karasuno anyway? Why are you so invested in them, they’re not you’re team! I don’t understand, and I want you back! Why’s Hinata there every time I see you, or talk to you, or try to be with you?” Akaashi took a shaky breath. There was a lot more to say, but he wasn’t sure how to continue.

His eyes widened as he felt Bokuto press a kiss onto the top of his head, encouraging him to continue. Bokuto’s steady breathing helped calm him down, and one final thing he wanted to ask came to mind.         

“Why didn’t you look at me when I tossed to you?” Bokuto stilled against him before pulling back slightly so he could look at Akaashi’s face. Akaashi was surprised to find silent tears falling down Bokuto’s face.

Reaching up to wipe them away, Bokuto grabbed his hand and held it against his own cheek. Closing his eyes, Bokuto struggled to find the right words.

“I kinda understood your outburst better after I realized you had stopped setting to me. I wanted to scream ‘Akaashi, look at me again! We’re an unbeatable team right?’” Bokuto opened his eyes again, staring straight at Akaashi, more tears welling up in both their eyes.  

“I’m sorry,” Bokuto told him, his face scrunching up as he tried to speak through his tears, ”for not noticing how you felt.” Dropping his hand, Bokuto pulled him back into a hug.

“I’m so sorry,” he said again.

“It’s alright,” Akaashi murmured. Wrapped up in Bokuto’s arms, he could forget all the worries that’d been plaguing him the last few weeks.

Here, in this moment, it was just the two of them again.

Pressing another kiss into the top of his head Bokuto whispered, “You are the most important person in the world to me, Akaashi.”

Bokuto’s words rushed over Akaashi. His heartbeat pounding in his ears, Akaashi tilted his head up slightly.

“You’re the most important person to me too Bokuto-san,” he told him. Leaning in, Akkashi kissed him. Bokuto seemed taken aback at first, but very quickly recovered.

Laughing, he leaned down and kissed him back. Smiling and wiping away each other's tears, they talked like they hadn’t done in a very long time.  

Eventually, they knew, they’d have to leave and return to the camp. But the next games wouldn’t start for another few minutes, and Akaashi had no desire to spend that time with anyone other than Bokuto.   

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fic request done by one of my dear friends, and I'm so sorry it took so long TT.TT Huge shout out to Jewlz, Ally, and Ira for helping me write this (your encouragement means a lot <3).
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed reading it! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.


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